Republicans have long claimed they would bring manufacturing back to the United States. They've mostly failed to keep that constant campaign promise except in one notable way.
Few groups or organizations manufacture outrage as prolifically as the GOP and their right-wing media mouthpieces, churning out completely false or exaggerated issues like the War on Christmas, Critical Race Theory in elementary schools, and litterboxes in school bathrooms.
Hot on the heels of conservative pearl-clutching over the false claim that Democratic President Joe Biden made Easter Sunday the Transgender Day of Visibility, Christian nationalists like Republican Speaker Mike Johnson next targeted the annual White House Easter egg decorating contest.
Johnson posted on X:
"The Biden White House has betrayed the central tenet of Easter—which is the resurrection of Jesus Christ."
"Banning sacred truth and tradition—while at the same time proclaiming Easter Sunday as 'Transgender Day'—is outrageous and abhorrent. The American people are taking note."
Johnson included two uncredited screenshots of right-wing media headlines.
One proclaimed Biden—in addition to observing the annual Transgender Day of Visibility—banned religious themes in the annual Easter egg decorating contest.
As Johnson predicted, the American people took note.
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The American Egg Board stepped in to debunk the latest right-wing manufactured outrage.
Religious themes have been verboten for over 45 years, but not at the behest of President Biden.
President and CEO of the American Egg Board Emily Metz said in a statement:
"The American Egg Board has been a supporter of the White House Easter Egg Roll for over 45 years and the guideline language referenced in recent news reports has consistently applied to the board since its founding, across administrations."
Metz released a longer statement in response to Fox News Digital:
"I think it's important to know that everything we do from a marketing and promotion standpoint—because we are a check off—we have very strict guidelines under the USDA."
"We all have to follow kind of guidelines, which essentially, number one, we can't discriminate against any other commodity…. We can't go out there and say, ‘hey, pork is awful and we should only get eggs.’ We have to be very, clear about that. We also can't promote one type of egg over another type of egg."
Metz clarified:
"So we have to be, excuse the pun, egg-nostic."
"And we also, most importantly, can't discriminate on the basis of race, religion, sex, sexual identity, any of that."
"So when we say designs can't be overtly religious, we just can't be seen to be promoting one religion over another, the same way we can't be seen to be promoting one political viewpoint or ideology over another."
"We have to be totally neutral in everything we do and have it just be focused on egg promotion and marketing activities. And this is obviously a huge opportunity for us to showcase the incredible eggs in a really fun and unique way."
The office of First Lady Jill Biden also responded to the manufactured controversy.
FLOTUS communications director Elizabeth Alexander posted:
"*Fyi on all the misleading swirl re White House and Easter: the American Egg Board flyer’s standard non-discrimination language requesting artwork has been used for the last 45 years, across all [Democratic] & Republican [Administrations]—for all [White House] Easter Egg Rolls—including previous Administration’s"
The FLOTUS usually plans and coordinates White House holiday observances.
Despite Republican politicians' best efforts to generate a woke War on Easter, people weren't buying what the GOP was selling.
When South Dakota Republican Governor Kristi Noem repeated the lies in her own X post, community members gave her a fact check.
Noem posted:
"Joe Biden banned 'religious themed' eggs at the White House’s Easter Egg design contest for kids, AND he announced that tomorrow is 'National Transgender Visibility Day'."
"Did he forget that tomorrow is Easter, Resurrection Sunday?"
"Joe Biden and his White House have made it clear that people of faith, particularly Christians and our Bible-believing views, have no place in his America. We must change that on November 5 by electing Donald Trump."
X community members added context to Noem's post with links to resources, stating:
"No, Joe Biden did not ban religiously decorated Easter eggs."
"White House Easter Egg art rules were set by the American Egg Board. The non-discrimination language has been used over the last 45 years by Presidential Administrations both Democratic and Republican."
People were on to the GOP outrage as diversion tactic.
Johnson's and Noem's false claim about the Transgender Day of Visibility is also easily debunked.
A person only needs to look at a calendar. Easter—which always falls on a Sunday—can't fall on a fixed date.
Then combine that information with a rudimentary knowledge of Christian Holy Days of Observation—something self-described devout Christians like Johnson and Noem should be experts on.
Each year the date for the Christian movable feasts—Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, Holy Week, Easter and Pentecost—are determined in accordance with the guidance from the First Council of Nicaea and based on a lunisolar calendar similar to the Hebrew calendar.
In 2023, Western Christianity observed Easter on April 9. In 2024 it was on March 31, in 2025 it will fall on April 20 and on April 5 in 2026. Eastern Christianity also observes Easter, but calculates the date differently.
However, the Transgender Day of Visibility has been observed on March 31—a fixed date—in the United States since 2010.
So it was Western Christianity that declared the established date of the Transgender Day of Visibility was also going to be Easter in 2024, not the other way around.
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